School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, United Kingdom; British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, United Kingdom.
School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, United Kingdom.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Sep;194(Pt A):115350. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115350. Epub 2023 Aug 8.
As a non-invasive imaging technique, this study explores the application of Computed Tomography (CT) in microplastics research, assessing its potential to distinguish different types and sizes of microplastics (polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride) from homogenised river-estuarine sediment. When examined in layers within artificial cores, all microplastic types could be observed by CT imagery, with good contrast in X-ray attenuation (based on image gray level intensity) against background sediments. Large microplastics (4 mm diameter) were also detectable when distributed randomly amongst the sediment. These spiked cores had sufficient difference in attenuation to allow segmentation between type, and therefore isolate individual microplastics. Due to limitations on scan resolution, smaller microplastics (≤125 μm diameter) could not be detected in spiked cores. Scans of two sediment cores from a Thames River tributary (UK) revealed two distinctive sediment structures which could influence microplastic accumulation. This information would be lost using conventional recovery procedures.
作为一种非侵入性的成像技术，本研究探讨了计算机断层扫描（CT）在微塑料研究中的应用，评估其从均质河流-河口沉积物中区分不同类型和大小的微塑料（聚丙烯、聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯、聚乙烯和聚氯乙烯）的潜力。在人工岩芯的层内进行检查时，所有类型的微塑料都可以通过 CT 成像观察到，与背景沉积物相比，X 射线衰减具有良好的对比度（基于图像灰度强度）。当大微塑料（直径 4 毫米）随机分布在沉积物中时也可以检测到。这些添加的岩芯在衰减方面有足够的差异，可以在类型之间进行分割，从而分离出单个微塑料。由于扫描分辨率的限制，添加的岩芯中无法检测到直径≤125μm 的小微塑料。对英国泰晤士河支流的两个沉积物岩芯的扫描揭示了两种可能影响微塑料积累的独特沉积物结构。如果使用传统的回收程序，这些信息将会丢失。
